§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what use was made of the £45 million profits made by the new towns before it was recovered by the Government.
§ Mr. John SilkinBy the end of 1975, surpluses amounting to £45 million will have been recovered from the Commission for the New Towns and the Harlow and Stevenage Development Corporations. While they remained with the Commission and the Corporations, such surpluses have been invested by way of short-term loans to local authorities.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment on what evidence he bases his judgment that there is no immediate future prospect of any new town making a surplus on its annual accounts.
§ Mr. John SilkinThe judgment is based on current forecasts of future income and expenditure.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of the profits of £45 million made by the new towns can be ascribed to each of the four towns under the control of the New Towns Commission.
§ Mr. John SilkinI shall give the actual amounts involved. The £25.8 million recovered from the Commission was made up as follows: Crawley, £12.3 million; Hatfield, £1.9 million; Hemel Hempstead, £10 million; Welwyn, £1.6 million. The remainder of the £45 million will, by the end of this year, have been recovered from Harlow and Stevenage Development Corporations.